


Echo

by SamoShampioni



Series: Björkman's Empire [16]
Category: Eurovision Song Contest RPF, German Pop Music RPF, Music RPF, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Elaiza, Eurovision Song Contest 2014, Gen, Unser Song für Dänemark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2019-06-01 08:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15139463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamoShampioni/pseuds/SamoShampioni
Summary: The participants of the German national final, 'Unser Song für Dänemark', were walking down the corridor and into the green room. The host of the show, Barbara Schöneberger, was showing them around the place. The security was on high alert after recent threats against the contest by the Swedish group BjörkNet. Locks, locks on locks, steel doors, the greenroom of the stadium was the most secure room ever built. Well, according to Barbara, anyway. Somehow it didn't make them feel any more safe. In fact it just made them feel more uneasy about the contest.





	Echo

The participants of the German national final, 'Unser Song für Dänemark', were walking down the corridor and into the green room. The host of the show, Barbara Schöneberger, was showing them around the place. The security was on high alert after recent threats against the contest by the Swedish group BjörkNet. Locks, locks on locks, steel doors, the greenroom of the stadium was the most secure room ever built. Well, according to Barbara, anyway. Somehow it didn't make them feel any more safe. In fact it just made them feel more uneasy about the contest.  
Suddenly, they were interrupted from their thoughts by the voice of the mysterious Das Gezeichnete Ich, who was saying what they were all thinking.  
"Sorry, but I don't understand," he said, "All these security measures... does this mean you are anticipating an attack on the contest tonight?"  
"Oh, no, not at all! Don't worry!" Barbara beamed, "Nothing will happen, but, in the highly unlikely event that it does, you will all be perfectly safe!"  
"Oh... ok."  
And so, they tried to stop worrying. Maybe she was right. Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe.  
But Sweden was still the unstable nation it had been ever since Björkman's takeover. The echo of the regime sounded throughout the world, the ghost of Björkman's Empire casting a long shadow over the whole of Europe. And it was just waiting to suck the rest of the world into it's chaos.

\---

But, despite the tense atmosphere regarding Sweden, most of the participants were at ease in the greenroom.  
The Baseballs had brought real baseballs with them, and were chucking them around the greenroom to each other.  
"Will you stop that?" Oceana said as a baseball landed near her, but the Baseballs just laughed.  
Ela from Elaiza was messing around with some of the locks on the door, while Santiano looked on, looking extremely confused and amused by the whole thing. But suddenly, her two bandmates walked over to her.  
"Hey! Don't touch that!" Natalie yelled, "What if you mess it up and break it?"  
"Oh, please!" Ela replied, "As if that'll happen!"  
"You never know!" Laura said, "Knowing our luck we'll all get locked in here, or something!"  
"Fine..."  
"It's highly unlikely that we'd get locked in here," said Der Graf, "Weren't you listening to what Barbara said? This is one of the most advanced facilities in the world!"

\---

"Das Gezeichnete Ich, huh?" Madeline said, "That's quite a mouthful. Don't you have a real name?"  
Das Gezeichnete Ich just grinned.  
"Of course I do, but that is information I don't give out," he smiled, "I guess you could call me GezeIch or DJI or something if you want."  
"Alright then," she replied as they shook hands, "Pleased to meet you!"  
"So," said Das Gezeichnete Ich, "You don't think anything will happen tonight, do you?"  
"O-oh... no," Madeline replied, "Well, I hope not. We shouldn't worry about these things. I'm sure everything will be fine. This is a safe event."  
"But," MarieMarie said as she walked over to them, "If that was the case, why would all these measures be necessary in the first place?"  
"Well," Der Graf smiled, "If you're all too scared to compete, then you can all just withdraw and declare Unheilig then winner!"  
"Not a chance!" Oceana laughed.

\---

The show would be starting soon, and the entrants were all getting their last minute preparations in. They were pretty excited for the big event, Germany would finally be choosing their Eurovision song for the 2014 contest. Last year, the Swedish dictatorship had been taken out during the 2013 edition, and although a lot of lives had been lost during the event, the EBU had greenlit next year's contest. Most felt that the 2014 event would be a safe affair, free from the problems that plagued the 2013 edition. The German entrants looked at the clock, it was ticking down slowly. Soon, it would be time for the show to begin. Suddenly, they heard a clicking sound from the room. The doors were clicking.  
"What was that?" Ela asked.  
"I don't know," replied Madeline, "I'll go and see what's going on."  
But when she walked to the door to open it, she found that she couldn't. The door wouldn't open. At all.  
"Uh, guys?" Madeline said, "The door isn't opening."  
"Oh no," said Das Gezeichnete Ich, "They haven't accidently locked it, have they?"  
"Hey," yelled MarieMarie, "Is anyone out there? You've locked us in!"  
At that moment, the TV screen in the green room flashed on. It was the host of the national final, Barbara Schöneberger. The entrants were relieved to see her, surely she could fix whatever had gone wrong?  
"Don't worry, everything will be fine," Barbara smiled, but she seemed very worried, "This is all routine, that's all."  
Judging by her face there was nothing at all routine about this.  
"Here, I'll walk over to the green room," Barbara said, "To see what's going on for myself."  
The participants of the show just sat there in silence. They could hear the audience outside, although now it looked as if the show wouldn't be going on at all. Anke Engelke, one of the hosts of the 2011 contest, was in the green room with them and she looked very worried indeed. Almost as if she knew something was incredibly wrong.  
"Contestants!" yelled a voice from the other side of the greenroom. They couldn't see her, as there were no windows.  
"Barbara?" Oceana asked.  
"Hello! Yes, its me!"  
"Barbara, what's happening?" Der Graf said.  
"We're not entirely sure! Sorry about all this! But don't worry, you're perfectly safe!"  
A few minutes later, they heard Barbara's voice again.  
"We've just received a call, a Swedish hacking group has remotely activated the cyberlocks, and they have also locked all of us out of the system."  
Das Gezeichnete Ich stood up from his chair.  
"S-surely there must be another way to open the door?" he said.  
"No," Barbara replied, "It's like a bank vault. Completely secure. In fact, it's the most secure room in this building, so please don't worry! You couldn't be more safe!"  
"Or more trapped," Der Graf laughed.  
"Look, I'll be back with you, the audience is going to have to leave, but when they're all gone we'll find specialised people who can get you out of there."  
Anke looked more and more worried by the second.  
"There's no specialised people," she whispered, "No one is specialised enough to deal with this..."  
"W-what?!" Das Gezeichnete Ich yelled.  
"Anke please," Der Graf tried to keep things calm, "Don't scare the competitors. Thanks."  
When they heard Barbara's footsteps again, they had plenty of questions for her.  
"Anke said there was no one who could deal with this," Ela said.  
"Anke," Barbara said, "Please... don't say such things. I've got to go."  
"Then tell them the truth!" Anke yelled, before sinking to the floor.  
They heard more footsteps. Barbara had walked away.  
"What's happening?" Ela said, "Where has she gone?"  
No one knew where she had gone. No one knew what was happening. They didn't know when they would be rescued from that room, but they hoped it was soon.

\---

An eerie silence descended across the stadium. They couldn't hear anything outside of the greenroom now. It was clear the audience had gone, and now they all felt very much alone. Anke hadn't said a single word, despite the best attempts of the participants to get her to explain what she meant. She wouldn't explain. Yet more silence. The clock on the wall told them that half an hour had passed, and they began to grow uneasy. They were worried about what was happening, about what Anke had said. Anke was sitting in a chair now, saying nothing and staring straight ahead. She looked terrified. At that moment, Oceana said what they were all thinking.  
"Someone is going to get us out, aren't they?" she said.  
"Of course they are," Der Graf grinned, "They can't just leave us in here, can they?"  
"They've done a pretty good job of it so far," Madeline sighed.  
"Wait," Das Gezeichnete Ich interrupted them, "Do you hear that?"  
They all heard it. Footsteps. Barbara had come back.  
"It's Barbara," Madeline grinned, "Barbara is here again!"  
"Barbara!" MarieMarie said, "Why haven't we been let out yet?"  
"Yeah, come on already," Oceana demanded, "We want to go home!"  
"Well it's hard, you know!" Barbara said, "It's impossible to open now that we've been locked out if the system! The entire room is one big metal..."  
She stumbled on the last word, caught herself before she said it. No, she couldn't say that. Anything but that.  
But she didn't need to say it. They understood what she meant.  
"...coffin?" MarieMarie yelled, "That's what you were going to say, isn't it?"  
Barbara said nothing.  
"Well, isn't it?!"  
"Look," Barbara said, ignoring her question, "The police are working around the clock to ensure that you all get out safely."  
But something was wrong.  
"If the police are there," began Das Gezeichnete Ich, "Then why can't we hear them? It sounds to me like only you are there."  
More silence.  
"Well?" Madeline asked, "Are they there or not?"  
Yet more silence.  
"Do you want me to be honest with you?" Barbara said, in a voice that was far too sad and far too serious. And that worried all of the participants.  
"Yes, of course!" Der Graf said, "Don't sugar coat it!"  
"The police aren't here," she admitted, "Because there's nothing they can do."  
It took a good twenty seconds for the words to truly sink in.  
"You mean they've given up on us already?!" yelled Das Gezeichnete Ich, "What do you mean there's nothing they can do?!"  
"Please calm down in there," Barbara sighed.  
"Well," he replied back, "It is hard to be calm when you're telling us no one is trying to get us out of here."  
"I understand," Barbara said, "And I'm sorry, I truly am. We're working as hard as we can, we promise."  
Lies. Lies designed to make the entrants feel better. Barbara stood alone, the authorities had given up long ago, almost immediately after the incident.  
The members of Elaiza had a suggestion.  
"Barbara, bring the police here," Yvonne said, "Get them to cut the room open or something."  
Barbara sighed. Maybe it was time to tell them the truth.  
"Well... I can't," Barbara said, "They have already said that they will not come, that it is our probem and ours alone. They know there is absolutely nothing they can do for you. Even if they did start cutting... it wouldn't work. It would take too long, There's no way we could cut into the room in time."  
"Wait..." Madeline said, "What do you mean... in time?"  
"I... well..."  
"Tell them Barbara," Anke sighed, the first time she had spoken in the greenroom in a long while, "You might as well just tell them, you did promise to be honest with them."  
"Tell us what?" Der Graf said.  
Barbara could barely bring herself to tell them.  
"The room... the room..." Barbara had to compose herself, "I'm so sorry... the room is airtight. And you have four hours before... it all runs out."  
Barbara had to turn away as gasps and screams came from inside that metal room. Even from Unheilig, who had been the most calm so far. It was MarieMarie who was the first to speak after the revelation.  
"Well... they must have demands, right?" MarieMarie yelled, "The Swedish hacking group? What are their demands?"  
Barbara sighed.  
"A complete withdrawal of all German troops from our sector of Sweden, and a return to Swedish rule in the area."  
"And... will we do it?" Der Graf said, "Will the government agree to this?"  
"I don't know... but for your sake, I hope they do..."

\---

The Swedes must have expected Stefan Raab to accept the demands and to give that order. After all, they knew he was a soft target, because he had given in so easily when Bjorkman threatened Cascada after last year's national final. Would it be repeated? Or would Stefan say no? Stefan picked up the phone, the leader of the Swedish terrorist organisation 'BjörkNet' was waiting to speak to him. Most days, Stefan enjoyed being chancellor. Today was the first day he had ever regretted it.  
"Hello Stefan," a familiar sounding voice spoke on the phone. She sounded familiar... the voice of Swedish schlager.  
Carola. She was the leader of the group?  
"No... You... are the leader of BjörkNet?" Stefan was shocked.  
"Of course, honey," she laughed, "Why, you are so silly! No time for games, silly Stefan! Come on, what is your decision? The German sector will be returned to the Swedish people, correct?"  
"I... I need time to think..." Stefan said.  
"Nope, silly Stefan, time is the one thing you do not have, remember? You need to make your mind up, and quickly," Carola laughed, before adding, "You don't have too long, remember?"  
Stefan looked up at the clock hung on the wall. Every second it ticked meant less time to sort the situation. He hoped that there would be some way to release the entrants without resorting to fulfilling the Swedes' demands. But he also had to be realistic.  
"We're not having you talk to the entrants inside either, so we're activating the soundproof system in five minutes! Goodbye now!"  
"No, wait!" Stefan yelled, but it was too late. Carola had already hung up the phone, leaving Stefan alone to think about what should be done. 

\---

"Soundproofing will be activated by BjörkNet in five minutes," Barbara heard Stefan's voice in her earpiece.  
And Barbara realised that as she was being sent this new information, she had forgot to tell the entrants all about the soundproofing. She would have to be quick and tell them before it activated.  
"There is a soundproofing system in the room," Barbara explained, "In five minutes it will be activated. And I won't be able to talk to you anymore."  
"What?!" MarieMarie yelled. They were all shocked. How could this be happening?  
"Please don't worry! We're doing everything we can to-"  
They heard a buzz, then nothing. The sound had cut off. They had never felt so alone and so utterly helpless in their entire lives.  
"No!" Madeline shouted, "Come back!"  
"Why?! Why is there a soundproof system?!" MarieMarie yelled as she kicked at the wall, "What is the point of that?"

\---

Barbara just stood there, looking at the green room.  
Emmelie de Forest, Adel Tawil, and Emma Marrone, the interval acts, walked over to Barbara, all the while being extremely thankful that they had not been in that greenroom the moment everything went wrong.  
Barbara barely even noticed them as they approached her.  
"Are they still in there?" Emma said.  
"Unfortunately yes..." Barbara said, not turning to look at the Italian Eurovision entrant, not taking her eyes off that metal box. All those extra security measures had only ensured that any sort of rescue mission would be impossible.  
"Why can't you get them out?" Emmelie asked.  
"It's designed to keep people out, that's why," Barbara said, "But this time, I feel that our security measures have backfired."

\---

It was during the third hour that the participants had completely lost hope.  
"You know he won't withdraw the troops, don't you?" MarieMarie said, "The government can't be seen to be negotiating with terrorists."  
"Y-you don't know that!" Oceana said, "You can't know that for sure!"  
"They can't just leave us here!" yelled Das Gezeichnete Ich, "H-how can they do this?"

\---

BjörkNet had caused this. BjörkNet, the group founded in late 2013 by Carola, was the only organisation standing against the occupation of Sweden by the Western Allies.  
But Stefan saw this as an opportunity. Germany could barely afford the occupation of Sweden as it is, after nearly bankrupting themselves trying to prevent a civil war in Belgium in 2012. This would be a perfect time to get rid of it, and save the German government literally billions of euros.  
Already, the British and Icelandic governments had contacted him, telling him not to go through with it. Telling him that the occupation of Sweden was worth more, that it was more important than the lives in that greenroom. But it wasn't their decision to make. It wasn't their citizens being held hostage.  
At that moment, the phone rang. That must be them. Stefan picked up the phone.  
"Yes?" Carola laughed.  
"Free them," Stefan said, "We have given the order for the troops to withdraw. The German sector... South Sweden... is yours."  
"Excellent," Carola grinned, "Well, we will wait for your troops to actually leave before we open it."  
What? She couldn't meant that! They wouldn't make it in time!  
"No no, please! It'll be too late then!"  
"Oh yes," Carola said, "I almost forgot that you made the very silly mistake of making your easily-remotely-hacked room airtight. Well, in that case, we'll just have to take your word for it."  
"Thank you..."  
"But, be warned! If you go back on your word, the next attack on German soil will be a thousand times worse, do you understand me?  
"Yes, loud and clear. Don't worry, you can trust the German government."  
"I hope I can."  
"I assure you, you can," Stefan repeated.  
At this point, Carola began laughing hysterically.  
"Gosh, and you can't hear them can you, because I put the soundproofing on! So you don't know if they're ok or not! Haha! Well, that's going to be a really fun game of 'Schrödinger's Eurovision'... hahahahaha! Have fun now!" and with that, Carola put the phone down. It was up to her to keep her word, but Stefan wasn't sure that she could be trusted.

\---

Emmelie, Emma and Barbara stood there, looking at the metal room.  
"Apparently Stefan gave the order to withdraw already," Barbara said, "I don't understand why the room hasn't been opened yet."  
They waited for a while, still nothing.  
"How long has it been?" Emmelie said, "Will they be alright?"  
"I don't know... I hope so."

\---

Carola sat there, with her second-in-command, Danny Saucedo, close by her. Danny was enraged, his friend Eric Saade had been executed following the Herning Trials when all those who had worked for Christer Björkman were put to a victor's justice. Carola was looked down at her computer screen. She could easily let them out now, if she wanted to. And she did want to, it was Danny who had other ideas.  
"Don't let them out," Danny said, "Give a real message to these nations that sat by as Swedish citizens were slaughtered."  
But Carola pressed the button.  
"Germany is not Britain, nor is it Iceland," Carola said, "We do not need to take revenge."  
Danny considered those words carefully.  
"As you wish, Carola," Danny said, "You are probably right, we should wait... take revenge on those who deserve it instead. Life in the German sector of Sweden has been far better than life for those trapped in the British-Icelandic sector."  
"Exactly."

\---

The red lights switched off, the door swung open. The entrants came flooding out of the green room, glad to finally be out of that metal cage.  
"Thank god," Barbara said, "Thank god you're all alright."  
They all came together for a big group hug. They had made it. Some criticised Stefan for giving in to BjörkNet's demands so easily, but realistically, Germany had to pull out of South Sweden sometime. Now was that time.

\---

Meanwhile, in occupied South Sweden, the German troops were moving out on the order of Chancellor Raab. That was it. The occupation of South Sweden was over. They were free. But freeing North Sweden, the section occupied jointly by Britain and Iceland, would prove to be far more of a challenge.

\---

The German national final had to be postponed until the next week. All the entrants came back, but that green room wasn't used. At the end of the first round of voting, Elaiza and Unheilig went through to the superfinal. At the end of that, Elaiza came out the winner, with their song 'Is It Right.' They would be the ones going to Copenhagen in May for the contest.  
The members of Elaiza smiled as they walked away from the cheering fans and back to where the other entrants were standing.  
"Hey," Das Gezeichnete Ich said as they went to walk away, "Good luck at the Eurovision! I'm sure you guys'll be great!"  
"Thanks!" Ela grinned, "Hopefully we get a good result."  
"After everything that happened here," Oceana said, "You deserve one."

\---

And so that was that. BjörkNet's first ever attack had been a success. It wasn't really an attack, but it did get them results. Participants of other national finals were worried, what if BjörkNet was going to attack them too?  
Carola was on the phone, world leaders had been calling, trying to find her number, trying to get through, asking if BjörkNet wanted to do similar things in their countries too.  
"Hahahaha," Carola laughed on the phone, "You be careful now, all those who go against Sweden, we can do the same thing to you."  
It was hard to fake such joy and laughter at possible attacks, but she had to sound convincing on the phone. Despite the image she was trying to portray, one of a ruthless and evil activist who was willing to do anything to get her demands, she hadn't wanted to hurt them. Carola had just wanted them to feel how she felt when the British had attacked Lilla Melodifestivalen. Helpless, powerless. Despite Danny, Carola had been watching the clock the whole time, ready to open the door before the time was up, regardless of whether the German government agreed to her demands or not. Or course, being unwilling to kill while being at the same time the head of a powerful terrorist organisation was not a good combination, and, so, the following day, Carola stepped down, and Danny Saucedo stepped up in her place. He wanted revenge for the occupation, revenge for the Herning Trials, revenge for Eric Saade. But, he stressed on a recording leaked onto the internet, not on Germany, who had denounced the trails. Rather, he wanted revenge on Britain and Iceland, for their role in the occupation and destruction of Sweden and the Swedish people.  
The governments of Britain and Iceland were on full alert. They were ready.


End file.
